Punch printing elements and kits



A. W. SCHMIDT lll PUNCH PRINTING ELEMENTS AND KITS Feb. 21, 1967 Filed March 1, 1965 v United States Patent Office a $304,857 Patented Feb. 21, 1967 3,304,857 PUNCH PRINTING ELEMENTS AND KITS Arthur W. Schmidt III, Clayton, Mo., assignor t Consolidated Stamp Mfg. Co., Spring Valley, N.Y. Filed Mar. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 435,834 8 Claims. (Cl. 10130) This invention relates to marking devices and techniques and more particularly to punch printing elements and kits and methods related thereto.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved apparatus and techniques for marking intelligence on sheets of corrugated cardboard and other such penetrable materials.

It is a further object of the invention to provide for automatically encoding and identifying unprinted inner corrugated cardboard packing.

It is a further object of the invention to facilitate the marking of sheets of penetrable material and the like in such a manner that the intelligence placed thereon can easily be read.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide improved marking elements which are adapted for working in various and diverse environmental circumstances and which can be positioned readily in a number of different and interchangeable positions.

Another object of the invention is to avoid the need for employing printing ink for printing intelligence on cardboard packings and the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved apparatus and techniques for placing codes on penetrable materials, which codes may be easily changed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of marking elements, wherein are employed figures which may be reused and interchanged at will.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide improved marking characters which may readily be provided in different sizes.

Another object of the invention relates to the solving of identification problems by the use of perforated code numbers and letters or the like, which may be punched into corrugated inner package pieces, and so forth.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new system of automatic punch perforating with hand-set characters which may be mounted on a cutting board or the like, to combine the perforating operation with other operations employed in the processing of sheet materials.

In achieving the above and other of its objectives, the invention contemplates, in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, the provision of a punch printing element adapted to punch print at least one of a group of characters, this element comprising, for example, a right quadrilateral base of substantially rigid material having a substantially uniform thickness and having a length and width which substantially exceeds this thickness.

In further accordance with the invention there is provided on this base a plurality of substantially evenly spaced conical punches which extend away from the base and which have an alignment corresponding to the configuration of each character represented.

Preferably, the above element is provided in the form of a kit, comprising a plurality of such elements, the bases of the elements being of like size and shape and being adapted to nest against one another in edgewise relationship.

According to a feature of the invention an attachment means, such as a pressure responsive adhesive layer, may be provided on the aforesaid base, this layer being preferably provided with a removable paper cover or the like which protects the adhesive layer until the same is ready for use.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the punches preferably have an apex angle of about ten to thirty-five degrees, which relate to the use of the punch printing elements, as will hereinafter be described in greater detail.

Preferably, the base and the pressure responsive adhesive layer are of a predetermined thickness, as will hereinafter be disclosed, with the points of the conical punches extending a predetermined distance from one of the faces of the corresponding base, as will also be disclosed in greater detail hereinafter.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the punches are employed in rectilinear or curvilinear alignment, at a specific density, which will provide for the perforation of characters or the like without destruction of the material being processed.

Advantageously, elements of the invention may be fabricated readily of a substantially rigid plastic material or the like, or alternatively from a metal or ceramic or any other such material which is sufficiently rigid and strong to withstand continued use and reuse.

A particular advantage of the invention is that the punch printing elements thereof may be economically produced with mass production techniques.

A further advantage of the invention is that the punch printing elements thereof can be immediately readied for delivery to meet custom specifications.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is also contemplated a method for use in processing, for example, a sheet of corrugated cardboard. According to this method, there is arranged at least one knife blade on a support to provide for cutting a sheet of cardboard while marking the same. This blade may be surrounded with a compressible substance to conceal the blade for purposes of safety, while there may further be arranged at least one folding element on the support proximate the blade to provide for a fold line in the said sheet.

In accordance with the latter said embodiments of the invention, there is detachably mounted on the aforesaid support at least one character marking element including a plurality of pointed members, as has been indicated above, which will extend from the support in the same direction as the knife blade. I

It will be appreciated that these pointed members are arranged to represent a character and that the sheet of cardboard or the like is forced against the blade and folding element and marking element with a force sufficient to compress the aforesaid compressible substance and to cut the sheet and form a fold line therein, the pointed members being made sufficiently sharp to penetrate and mark the sheet with a character when the cutting of the sheet is effected.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of some preferred embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of part of a cutting and folding apparatus in which are employed marking elements provided in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view of part of a corrugated sheet of cardboard in which intelligence has been marked in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of a punch printing element provided in accordance with the invention; and FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the punch printing element of FIG. 3.

The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a conventional die-cutting board fabricated, for example, of plywood faced with masonite, upon which cutting rules and folding elements are adapted for being mounted.

A cutting element in the form of a knife blade 12 appears in FIG. 1 and it is surrounded by a plurality of parallel piped compressible blocks 16 formed of rubber and the like which perform a blade concealing operation for purposes of safety with respect to operators employing the apparatus. It will be realized, according to conventional techniques, that said blocks 16 are adapted for being compressed, whereby the blade 12 is exposed for purposes of performing a cutting operation.

Also appearing in FIG. 1 are fold rules or elements 18 and 20, which when a sheet of corrugated cardboard or the like is forced thereagainst, are adatped to provide fold lines therein.

The elements 10-20 are conventional and commercially available elements and the use thereof is well known to those skilled in the art. However, by way of brief review, it is to be understood that a sheet of corrugated cardboard or the like would be urged vertically downwardly against the support 10, whereupon the blocks 16 will be compressed, exposing the blade 12 which will preform a cutting operation on said sheet of corrugated cardboard while at the same time rules 18 and 20 will cause fold lines to be formed in said sheet in a manner which is generally outside the scope of the invention.

It is to be noted, however, that a certain force will be required to compress the blocks 16 in order to expose the blade 12 for a cutting operation and the magnitude of the force required to compress the blocks 16 will be a characteristic to be considered when regarding one of the particular features of the invention, as will hereinafter be discussed in greater detail.

Further illustrated in FIG. 1 are a plurality of marking elements 22, it being apparent from this figure that said elements 22 are in edgewise nesting relationship, whereby the position of one of said elements constitutes a reference for the positioning of the remainder thereof.

It will also be apparent from FIG. 1 that said marking elements 22 are provided with a plurality of upstanding punches which will be described in greater detail hereinunder, the purpose of said punches being to effect a marking operation, as will be more apparent from an inspection of FIG. 2.

In FIG. 2 is shown a sheet 24 of corrugated cardboard which is intended to represent a multitude of materials which can be processed according to the invention and which include various types of material which are penetrable or pierceable by the punches of marking elements 22, as will hereinafter be described.

It is sufficient to observe at this time with respect to FIG. 2, that the plurality of holes which are punched into the sheet 24 are sufficient to permit the identifying of intelligence or information which has been introduced by the positioning of holes 26 in an alignment corresponding to the configuration of characters to be represented.

FIG. 3 and 4 illustrate the marking or punch printing element of the invention in greater detail and in these figures said element is shown as comprising a base 28 having punches or punching elements 30 thereon.

Said punch printing elements, inclusive of the base and punches, may be fabricated of a thermo-setting plastic or a Bakelite type of material or the like, or as well from a metal or a ceramic or any other material which may be economically processed and which is sufficiently rigid and strong to withstand continued use and reuse.

Preferably, the material from which the punch printing elements are to be fabricated should be adaptable to a moulding operation so that such elements may be readily manufactured according to mass production techniques.

The base 28 is provided with a plurality of edges 32, which are inclined to facilitate removal thereof from the mould in which the same is cast. Preferably, the base has a substantially uniform thickness and this thickness will lie generally in a range of from .050.150 inch to coordinate with the size of the associated cutting blade which is provided in accordance with conventional sheet-cutting techniques. This thickness is represented in FIG. 3 by reference T1.

The punches 39 are preferably tapered punch elements which may conveniently be of conical configuration, although pyramid shapes and the like are also permissible. It is not essential, according to the invention, that the punch elements be of symmetrical shape, as long as they are adapted to penetrate into cardboard and the like and to be readily withdrawn therefrom.

An important measurement with respect to punches 30 is the measurement from the bottom 34 of the base 28 to the points 36 of the punches 30. Said points will preferably extend a uniform distance from the bottom 34 and this distance will generally lie within the range of from .200.300 inch from the bottom or face 34, in accordance with conventional cardboard cutting techniques.

It will be noted that this dimension indicated as T2 in FIG. 3 is measured from the base or face 34, rather than from the face 36 from which the punches 30 extend.

From FIG. 4 it will be appreciated that the base 28 is divided with a length L and a width W which substantially exceed the thickness T1 of said base. This provides for positional stability and affords a ready mounting of the punch printing elements of the invention on a support or the like.

Also indicated in FIG. 4 is the angle B between the various sides of the base 28. Where the configuration of the base is rectangular or right quadrilateral, the angle B is preferably to a tolerance of or /2 of a degree. This insures that the relative positions of the marking elements on a support when the marking elements are in nesting relationship will be precise and exact.

As appears from FIG. 3, the punches 30 are provided with an apex angle A. This angle is preferably within a range of from 10 to 35, which is sufficient to enable the punches to penetrate a sheet of cardboard or the like, and to be withdrawn therefrom, employing the forces which are required to effect a cutting operation, while compressing the compressible blocks 16 (see FIG. 1).

Referring again to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the punches 30 are arranged in a linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of a character to be represented. The character in FIG. 4 is, for example, the character H. The alignment need not be rectilinear, as shown in FIG. 4, but may instead be curvilinear, as, for example, might be employed for the character S.

Also shown in the drawing is a fastening means in the form, for example, of a layer 40 of adhesive material. This adhesive material may be a pressure responsive adhesive having a thickness of, for example, .005.015 inch, which is sufficient to give the necessary adhesive strength while not raising the base 28 above the support to any extent which might interfere with a cutting operation.

Also seen in the drawing is the removable paper cover 42, which is provided to protect the adhesive base until such time as the same is employed.

Other forms of adhesives may be substituted, but preferably they are non-permanent. Said adhesive will not be subjected to shear stresses and consequently have no particularly great strength requirements. However, such adhesives should not permit any of the characters to become detached when the cardboard is withdrawn therefrom.

It will be appreciated that other forms of connection may be employed, although these will probably be less convenient than the pressure responsive adhesives. No-

S tably, fastening devices such as nails, bolts and the like may be employed.

According to the method of the invention, as will be appreciated from the above disclosure, there is contemplated the' processing of 'a sheet of cuttable or penetrable material such as, for example, corrugated cardboard.

This method may comprise arranging at least one knife blade on a support to provide for cutting the sheet and this blade may, for example, be surrounded with a compressible substance to conceal the blade for purposes of safety. Further, there is contemplated the possible arranging of at least one folding element on the support proximate the blade, to "provide a fold line in the sheets being processed. v

The method further comprises detachably sticking or otherwise positioning on a support at least one character marking element, including a plurality of pointed members extending from the support in the same direction, but to a lesser extent than the knife blade. The pointed members, as has been noted above, are arranged to represent a character and when a sheet of cardboard is forced against the blade and folding elements, the pointed members are sufiiciently sharp to penetrate and mark the sheet with the character which they represent. This operation is effected simultaneously with the cutting of the sheet.

It is also to be understood from what has been stated above that the invention contemplates the provision of kits of punch printing elements, whereby selection may be made by the user of the kit of any information which he desires to impress on the material being processed.

There will now be obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications and variations of the structure and methods set forth above. These modifications and variations will not depart from the scope of the invention if defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A punch printing element adapted to punch print at least one of .a group of characters, said element comprising a right quadrilateral base of substantially rigid material having a substantially uniform thickness of about .050-.150 inch and having a length and width substantially exceeding said thickness, said base having opposite and parallel faces, and a plurality of substantially evenly spaced tapered punches on the base and extending from one of said faces and including points extending uniformly to about .200-.300 inch from said one face, said tapered punches having a linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of each character represented and having a density of about five to ten punches per inch, said punches having an apex angle of about ten to thirty-five degrees.

2. A punch printing kit comprising a plurality of elements; each element being adapted to punch print at least one of a group of characters, each said element comprising a right quadrilateral base of substantially rigid material having a substantially uniform thickness of about .050-.l50 inch and having a length and width substantially exceeding said thickness, said base having opposite and parallel faces and a plurality of substantially evenly spaced tapered punches on the base and extending from one of said faces and including points extending uniformly to about .200.300 inch from said one face, said tapered punches having a. linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of each character represented and having a density of about five to ten punches per inch, said punches having an apex angle of about ten to thirtyfive degrees, the bases of all said elements being adapted to nest against one another in edgewise relation.

3. A punch printing element comprising a right quadrilateral base of substantially rigid plastic material having opposite faces, a pressure responsive adhesive layer on one of said faces, a removable cover atop said adhesive layer, and a plurality of substantially evenly spaced tapered punches on the base and extending from the other of said faces and including points extending uniformly to about ZOO-.300 inch from said one face, said tapered punches having a linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of at least one character and having a density of about five to ten punches per inch, said punches having an apex angle of about ten to thirty-five degrees.

4. A punch printing kit comprising a plurality of elements; each element being adapted to punch print at least one of a group of characters, each said element comprising a right quadrilateral base of substantially rigid material having opposite faces, a pressure responsive adhesive layer on one of said faces, a removable cover atop said adhesive layer, and a plurality of substantially evenly spaced tapered punches on the base and extending from the other of said faces and including points extending uniformly to about .200.300 inch from said one face, said tapered punches having a linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of each character represented and having a density of about five to ten punches per inch, said punches having an apex angle of about ten to thirty-five degrees.

5. A punch printing elemnt adapted to punch print at least one of a group of characters, each said element comprising a right quadrilateral base of substantially rigid material having a substantially uniform thickness of about .050.150 inch and having a length and width substantially exceeding said thickness, said base having opposite and parallel faces, a pressure responsive adhesive layer of about .005-.'015 inch thickness on one of said faces, a removable cover atop said adhesive layer, and a plurality of substantially evenly spaced tapered punches on and integral with the base and extending from the other of said faces and including points extending uniformly to about 200-300 inch from said one face, said tapered punches having a linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of each character represented and having a density of about five to ten punches per inch.

6. A punch printing kit comprising a plurality of ele- ,ments; each element being adapted to punch print at least one of a group of characters, each said element comprising a right quadrilateral base of substantially rigid material having a substantially uniform thickness of about .050.l50 inch and having a length and Width substantially exceeding said thickness, said base having opposite and parallel faces, a pressure responsive adhesive layer of about .005-.015 inch thickness on one of said faces, a removable cover atop said adhesive layer, and a plurality of substantially evenly spaced tapered punches on and integral with the base and extending from the other of said faces and including points extending uniformly to about ZOO-.300 inch from said one face, said tapered punches having a linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of each character represented and having a density of about five to ten punches per inch.

7. A punch printing element adapted to punch print at least one of a group of characters, said element comprising a right quadrilateral base of substantially rigid plastic material having a substantially uniform thickness of about .060- inch and having a length and width substantially exceeding said thickness, said base having opposite and parallel faces, a pressure responsive adhesive layer of about .005.0l5 inch thickness on one of said faces, a removable paper cover atop said adhesive layer, and a plurality of substantially evenly spaced conical punches on the base and extending from the other of said faces and including points extending uniformly to about .200-.300 inch from said one face, said punches having a linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of each character represented and having a density of about five to ten punches per inch, said punches having an apex angle of about ten to thirty-five degrees.

8. A punch printing kit comprising a plurality of elements; each element being adapted to punch print at 7 least one of a group of characters, each said element comprising a rig-ht quadrilateral base of substantially rigid plastic material having a substantially uniform thickness of about .050-.150 inch and having a length and width substantially exceeding said thickness, said base having opposite and parallel faces, a pressure responsive adhesive layer of about DOS-.015 inch thickness on one of said faces, a removable paper cover atop said adhesive layer, and a plurality of substantially evently spaced conical punches on the base and extending from the other of said faces and including points extending uniformly to about .200-300 inch from said one face, said punches having a linear alignment corresponding to the configuration of each character represented and having a density of about five to ten punches per inch, said punches having an apex angle of about ten to thirty-five degrees, the bases of all said elements being of like size and shape and being adapted to nest against one another in edgewise relation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Hoff.

McDill 101-30 Foernsler 101-3 Hall 101-26 Hiering 101-3 Haumont 101-28 X Ashton 101-30 Bowie et al. 101-28 Roth 101-30 X Muter 101-28 X De Man 101-32 15 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

DAVID KLEIN, Examiner.

W. F. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PUNCH PRINTING ELEMENT ADAPTED TO PUNCH PRINT AT LEAST ONE OF A GROUP OF CHARACTERS, SAID ELEMENT COMPRISING A RIGHT QUADRILATERAL BASE OF SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID MATERIAL HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM THICKNESS OF ABOUT .050-.150 INCH AND HAVING A LENGTH AND WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY EXCEEDING SAID THICKNESS, SAID BASE HAVING OPPOSITE AND PARALLEL FACES, AND A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY EVENLY SPACED TAPERED PUNCHES ON THE BASE AND EXTENDING FROM ONE OF SAID FACES AND INCLUDING POINTS EXTENDING UNIFORMLY TO ABOUT .200-.300 INCH FROM SAID ONE FACE, SAID TAPERED PUNCHES HAVING A LINEAR ALIGNMENT CORRESPONDING TO THE CONFIGURATION OF EACH CHARACTER REPRESENTED AND HAVING A DENSITY OF ABOUT FIVE TO TEN PUNCHES PER INCH, SAID PUNCHES HAVING AN APEX ANGLE OF ABOUT TEN TO THIRTY-FIVE DEGREES. 